Welcome Back, Leo

Summary: Frank couldn’t believe his eyes; Hazel could only stare in bewilderment; Nico finally got the nagging feeling off his chest; and Piper thought she was dreaming. “It can’t be… Leo, you’re alive?”

Chapter 1

Frank couldn’t believe his eyes.

He had literally just changed into his
pajamas and gotten ready to go to bed a few minutes ago. It had been a long day
for the praetor; a year had passed since the war against Gaea and there had
been a lot of casualties. The son of Mars could see the outlines of dark
circles forming under his eyes and his back was hunched over as he walked
sluggishly to close the blinds and call it a night. He was more than ready to
just collapse and drift off. But, of course, that wasn’t the case.

As Frank was about to drape the windows
with blinds, his hands paused when he noticed something… unusual coming towards
Camp Jupiter. Out in the distance, in the dark starless night, a single
shimmering bird flew closer and closer. Upon further inspection through
squinted eyes, Frank realized that the object in the sky was too big to even be an
eagle.

No, it wasn’t a bird.

It was a dragon. A metal dragon ship that
looked all too familiar.

Frank rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had
fallen asleep while standing upright. His eyes popped out of their sockets, his
jaw dropped, his hands were shaking. No. It couldn’t be. There was just no way…

“Frank!” Reyna burst through the cabin
door. He saw that she had been prepared for bed too; her hair was let loose and
her usual armour had been replaced with the Camp’s T-shirt and shorts that she
used as pajamas. Frank could tell that she, like him, wanted nothing more than
to sleep, but at the moment, her face was frantic, confused, worried, and most
of all, hopeful. “You have to go out
there and see what’s going on!”

Without another word, the two of them
rushed outside to the field where other demigods had already gathered, all
waiting to see what the flying object was. The chilly air was like a slap to
the face and Frank wished that he had grabbed a jacked on the way out. He ran
barefoot in the somewhat wet grass and he could see his breath forming white
clouds with each exhale.

“Do you think it’s really—?” He turned to
ask his partner. No names needed to be mentioned; there was only one person
Frank could be talking about.

They slowed down to a jog as they
approached the open field where the flying ship had landed. Frank managed to
regain his breath as he joined the other demigods, watching the door of the
ship open down as a shadow stepped out. Even in the dim moonlight, the praetor
recognized that figure immediately.

Leo.

It was him—it was really him! The mechanic
hadn’t changed much at all in the past year; his hair was still a mess, his
clothes still covered in black soot. Leo looked around, almost nervous, until
he spotted Frank in the crowd and made eye contact.

“Zhang!” Leo spared his arms out and waved
widely, making his way through the crowd to where the praetor stood. “Long time
no see!” He glanced down at Frank’s pants. “Uh, nice panda pajamas. They look
good on you.”

Frank didn’t even care that after so long,
the first thing the son of Hephaestus did was make fun of his favourite pair of
pajamas; he ran up to the mechanic and caught him in a tight bear hug, biting
back tears.

All Hazel could do was stare in
bewilderment, mouth hanging open, hands shaking.

She was still, rigid as a stick, and the world
around her froze in place. She could no longer feel the breeze howling against
her exposed arms, or hear the hushed murmurs traveling through the crowd behind
her. Her vision became a camera lens, zoomed in all the way until it focused on
one single thing and everything else disappeared—until her amber orbs could
only see the boy in front of her.

Then, time ticked again. The sounds and
feelings all came rushing back to her. And she could move freely once more; little
by little, she took slow steps towards the boy. Cautious, hesitant movements
turned into desperate sprints. The distance between the two of them was quickly
covered by a series of wide strides.

Hazel shoved Frank, who had been clinging
onto the brown-haired boy, aside roughly and enveloped Leo in a hug herself.
The tears flowed but she didn’t care.

“Leo, is it really you?” Her voice cracked.
She struggled to hold herself together. It was a constant battle between
wanting to hold the boy tighter so he couldn’t ever leave again and wanting to
beat him up for disappearing for more than a year without a word. She settled
for a question and let her words be her emotions. “Where have you been?”

“Here and there,” Leo laughed sheepishly,
scratching the back of his head. “Sorry for making you worry.”

Hazel sniffed, wiping away the last of her
tears. The answer he gave was less than satisfying, but she knew that wasn’t
the important thing right now. “I-it’s okay.” She inhaled. “I forgive you.”

And she did forgive him because, gods, it was his voice vibrating through
her ears right now—after twelve long months, she was finally hearing wards come out of his mouth. He was alive—he was alive!—and he came back in good
condition. She could feel his rusty hands, his ash-filled hair, his half-smile,
and everything else she remembered so clearly—everything that she thought would
she never get a chance to experience again. Hazel hugged him again and again,
never getting enough of the contact.

From behind Leo, another person stepped out
of the Argo II. Momentarily
distracted, Havel craned her neck to get a better look at the newcomer: a girl
with beautifully braided auburn hair and a thin white traditional Greek dress.
As the girl looked around at all the Roman demigods surrounding the ship, Hazel
felt a vibe of magic coming from her, though it felt dim, as if it had once
been powerful but has now faded.

“Who’s that?” Hazel asked, eyes flickering
in the stranger’s direction, wondering if she was a demigod.

The son of Hephaestus followed her gaze and
his eyes immediately brightened when he saw who his friend was referring to. He
motioned for the auburn-haired girl to come over. “Hazel, meet Calpyso,” Leo
beamed as if the goddess of Ogygia man a prize he finally managed to get his
hands on. He was tempted to add my
girlfriend but decided against it to avoid the embarrassment and teasing
that was sure to follow. Plus, they weren’t even official. Not yet, anyway.

Hazel understood why Leo couldn’t shut up
about the goddess after he returned from Ogygia now; she was absolutely
gorgeous and Hazel noticed some of the male demigods crowding around them eyes
Calypso, whispering to each other about the “hot chick” that had suddenly
appeared in front of them.

Too bad she was already taken, Hazel smiled
secretly.

Nico, after twelve long months, finally got
the nagging feeling off his chest.

When he had gone out for a late night
stroll, he had planned to just cool his head a bit before going to bed. He had
wanted to walk around by himself for a while since the dark always calmed him
down. He hadn’t planned on finding
the familiar-looking metal ship sitting in the middle of a field near Camp
Half-Blood.

It was the Argo II. But it couldn’t be
the Argo II.

Nico drew out his sword. His heart
clenched. If this was some cruel joke, he would make sure the prankster
wouldn’t live to see tomorrow morning.

As he walked closer to the ship, he noticed
two shadows emerging from the entrance to his right. He spun around, slashing
his blade forward almost blindly, hoping to hit whoever dared to approach the
Camp with this prank of all things. His sword sliced through the air, just
barely missing his target.

“Whoa!” A non-monster-like cry came from
beside the son of Hades. “Easy there, Nico, we come in peace.”

At the sound of his name and the all too
recognizable voice, Nico gripped his weapon even tighter and narrowed his eyes.
“Whatever joke you’re trying to pull, it isn’t funny.” Because the creator of
the Argo II was gone and the owner of the familiar voice he was hearing right now
was dead. He’s been dead for almost a
year and Nico felt his soul leave.

“Wait, wait!” The voice was closer now and
more frantic. “It’s not a joke! It’s really me, Leo!” When Nice still didn’t
lower his blade, the son of Hephaestus produced a small flame in the palm of
his hand for a light source and shone it at himself. “See, I’m not lying! Now
please put down your sword before someone—most likely me—gets injured.”

Although he was still skeptical, Nico sheathed
his blade, relaxing ever so slightly. He took a long look at the demigod in
front of him. The boy certainly did look
like Leo, with the same lopsided smile and pointy ears, and Nico really wanted
to believe that it was him. But—

“You’re dead.”

“Uh,” Leo blinked, answering after a few
seconds of surprise. “No, I think I’m alive.” He poked himself on the arm,
suddenly feeling self-conscious. “Definitely not dead.”

Nico shook his head heard. “I felt your death, Leo. I could tell that
your soul left your body after the war with Gaea a year ago. You disappeared.
We searched for days but couldn’t find you. I… I told everyone that you were
dead.”

Leo frowned. “Is that what everyone thinks
now? No wonder…” He ran a hand through his hair. “The truth is that I did die,
but I had the medicine from Asclepius
with me so that I’d revive afterwards. Didn’t Frank and Havel tell you that?
Anyway, after that, I went back to Ogygia to find Calypso.” On cue, the former
goddess stepped out from the shadows and greeted the son of Hades politely.

Nico’s eyes widened. He had to force
himself not to let his jaw drop. “Calypso,” he echoed, voice flat. A pause. “So
after the war, while we all thought you were dead, you went to find Calypso.
For a year.”

“Well, not exactly…” the mechanic glanced
around nervously under Nico’s intense stare. “We went traveling for a while
after that. We’re sort of… you know… yeah,” he gestured with his hands, too
embarrassed to finish the sentence, a light blush creeping onto his cheeks.

Nico sighed. “Right. Well, it’s nice to
have you back, Leo. Although you should probably go visit Jason and the others
soon; they’ve all missed you a lot. I’m sure Piper can’t wait to beat you up
for disappearing like that.” And the bitter, unspoken message: You really shouldn’t have done that without
telling anyone.

Nico bid them goodbye and watched Leo and
Calyso make their way to Camp Half-Blood. Behind him, another shadow was
approaching Nico. “You didn’t have to be harsh on him, you know. They look like
they’ve both been through a lot.”­

The dark-haired boy turned around. “Shut
up, Solace.”

Piper thought she was dreaming.

After all, ever since a year ago, she’s had
a hard time accepting the fact that one of her best friends was gone forever.
It wasn’t rare to have the son of Hephaestus appear in her dreams, laughing and
casually cracking cheesy jokes like he used to; that reality was much easier to
accept than one without the talkative mechanic. And just when Piper thought the
nightmares had stopped for good this time, the boy was back to haunt her in her
dreams again.

This time, he was beside her bed, shaking
her awake, his warm hands on her shoulders, calling her name softly. His voice
was so strong, so real, that she
almost burst into tears right there because she regretted not being able to
hear his voice anymore every day.

And when she woke up, feeling drowsy, she
could see him there, sitting on the side of her bed, grinning. She buried her
head in his hands, choking back tears and forcing himself to swallow the lump
in her throat, reminding herself that it wasn’t actually him, that this Leo was
nothing more than a fragment of her imagination. He wasn’t real. Of course he
wasn’t. He’s been gone for over a year.

So why was she currently staring into
familiar brown orbs? Why did his touch feel so warm? Why did he seem so… alive?

“Leo?” Her voice came out only slightly
louder than a whisper, not daring to give herself any false hope. “Is it really
you?”

She had never gotten an answer before, when
she had previously asked this question; she wasn’t really expecting a reply
this time either. But her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when the boy
actually opened his mouth and loud rumbling vibrations flooded her eardrums.

“The one and only! Leo Valdez is back!” He exclaimed
in that dramatically flamboyant tone she missed so dearly. Piper’s ears were
ringing and she could hardly register his words, not to mention the
self-control it took to stop herself from latching onto him and never letting
go.

She did it anyway.

The daughter of Aphrodite threw herself at
the boy, ignoring the fact that she probably woke up the entire cabin when she
hit her elbow on the bed frame by accident and gasped. She knew from the
wheezing sounds, the harsh pats on her back, and the muffled cries for mercy
that she was squeezing him with too much force and that she should loosen her
grip to give him some room to breathe—after all, she couldn’t have him dying on
her just when he’s come back—but Piper really didn’t care about any of that at
the moment. She was focused solely on the fact that she was actually truly touching him right now. And he was
solid; not like the usual ghostly images that she conjured.

When she finally released him, she leaned
back and let out a breath of air. The anger and frustration and the mouthfuls
of lectures that she had originally planned out in her head suddenly all
escaped her and she was only left with relief.

“Leo Valdez,” Piper’s voice was stern and
she noticed the mechanic gulp nervously. There was a pregnant silence before
her face softened and she broke into a grin, hugging him one more time. “Welcome back.”

Write a Review
Did you enjoy my story? Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks,
Madin456

Sarge:
This is very interesting. But you say that your heroine is 17 years of age. Then you say, "Until she reaches that age..." What age? You need to say which age that is. You might want to set it for the age of majority for the state in which your heroine lives. Some have left 18 as the age of m...

PersephanieBoyce:
I was intrigued with the subject of this book from the snip it I read, and as I continued to read I felt like I was inside the characters brain. His thought processes, his memories, everything was so beautifully and forcefully made aware.The descriptions were vivid and detailed. At times, I did t...

Avell Kro:
I've only just started reading this, but I can see that this writer really knows her stuff. Her theme is painful and traumatic, and her sense of place is deep and strong. Being originally from Yorkshire myself the story resonates with me personally, but this is good writing. I look forward to com...

Tina Hacker:
Lindsey Martin=Bowen blends humor with satiric takes on modern life. Her characters are introduced seamlessly and tell the reader their stories--if we can read them between laughs! I hesitate to write exactly what she parodies but anyone reading her book will know in a minute. Just think large-...

Colin Milroy:
To begin, I don't think that the first review of this story was fair at all. Based on the popularity of this story, I would say the one-star review hasn't done much harm, but I still felt the need to address it. Now I will do my best to be constructive.I liked the concept of this story. I found i...

Other Collections

About Us:

Inkitt is the world’s first reader-powered book publisher, offering an online community for talented authors and book lovers. Write captivating stories, read enchanting novels, and we’ll publish the books you love the most based on crowd wisdom.